Thursday, September 29, 2005

Roberts Confirmed As Chief Justice

By now I'm sure you've heard that Roberts was confirmed as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by a margin of 78-22. As expected, there are many reactions already, ranging from celebration to horror. I've noticed two interesting reactions so far.

As to those 22 Democrats who voted no, they have openly embraced an ideological view of the Court from which they can never credibly step back. For them, appointing Supreme Court Justices is a processes of trying to lock outcomes in place, and we shouldn't believe them if in the future they try to say otherwise.

She then lists the 22 senators who voted no and adds:

I hope no one on that list is running for President.

While I completely understand her point, I can't say I agree. I think there is a good portion of the American population that will likely vote for someone because they voted no on Roberts. The idea that the senate is suppose to vote on the qualifications of the nominee and not the potential rulings on key issues is far, far from the mind of many Americans.

The other observation (which has been noted by many) is that of the Democratic senators from red states, only 3 voted no:

Evan Bayh (Indiana)Tom Harkin (Iowa)Harry Reid (Nevada)

It will be very interesting to see if the no vote hurts any of these three politically (or if the yes votes by the other help them).